virtualbox.org

Is out there a tool (if free even better) to perform backups and replicate the VMs from one host to another?

Testing the following, one host with several guests running Windows server and MS SQL being backed up every x hours, replicating the backup to an alternate site and starting the guest on the alternate site, is this possible?

Copying the VM folder to external storage is sufficent as a backup.

Getting the VM working on another host is a different question. If the hosts are compatible, e.g. running the same host OS, similar CPU, similar capabilities in general including similar amounts of RAM and hard disk space, then moving the VM should pose no problem.

mpack wrote:Copying the VM folder to external storage is sufficent as a backup.

Getting the VM working on another host is a different question. If the hosts are compatible, e.g. running the same host OS, similar CPU, similar capabilities in general including similar amounts of RAM and hard disk space, then moving the VM should pose no problem.

is just rsync my vm directories and ~/.VirtualBox/VirtualBox.xml between similar-ish hosts:

12gb core i5 (debian wheezy)
8gb core2quad (fedora14/debian sid)
4gb e5300 (centos5/debian squeeze)

they're all running 64-bit linux on 64-bit cpu's with vt-x, which i guess is all that matters.

sej7278 wrote:they're all running 64-bit linux on 64-bit cpu's with vt-x, which i guess is all that matters.

Not entirely. Bridged connections and shared folder connections will most likely break, but it's all fixable.

mpack wrote:

sej7278 wrote:they're all running 64-bit linux on 64-bit cpu's with vt-x, which i guess is all that matters.

Not entirely. Bridged connections and shared folder connections will most likely break, but it's all fixable.

they work fine with me, as long as the shared folders have the same path and the bridge is to the same nic.

But again, is there a product out there to do such thing? In the VM Ware world there's a product (and prolly more) called Veeam that does what I'm inquiring about.

There are lots of backup products available for Windows hosts. VirtualBox doesn't have or require anything specific to itself if that's what you mean.

For OS based there are a ton of products out there, can you recommend something specific for vbox?

No I can't. For general backup of my PC I use Acronis. For the more humungous files (like VMs), I simply copy the folder using the host shell. I don't use automated backups (my employer does, but I don't pay any attention to what that system does: I take my own precautions for my own data!).